Kiran Kumar said sustainable systems should be capable of meeting the needs of the current generation.
Indian Space Research Organisation's AS Kiran Kumar today said that exploiting technology to provide solutions to social issues still remained "significantly underexplored".
He was speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Shivaji University. The university awarded degrees to 50,444 students this year.
He told the gathering that new technologies provided the opportunity to address challenges, create new information sources, networks, communities and social interaction.
"While powerful technologies are evolving on one side, society is facing issues with respect to availability of natural resources and energy on the other side. Exploiting technology to provide solutions to social issues still remains significantly underexplored," Mr Kumar said.
He said that sustainable systems should be capable of meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising on water, energy and environment for the future.
Speaking about ISRO, Mr Kumar said that some "exciting missions" like 'Chandrayaan 2' (ISRO's second lunar exploration) and 'Aditya L 1' (mission to study the sun) were being planned.